She made her maiden voyage from Le Havre to New York on July
23, 1952
She carried a total of 807 passengers
(341 in first class, 302 in cabin class and 164 in tourist class).
Overall length 599ft 6in
Breadth 80ft 3in
Speed 22 knots

On her maiden voyage

The Flandre was a
well appointed ship - the cabins and public rooms in both First and Tourist
class were probably the best on any ocean going vessel of here time. She was
comfortable and had a friendly and opulant air about her.

I traveled on the Flandre from New York to Southampton in the
late summer of 1959. We hit a tremendous storm, a few hours outside New York,
which continued unabated, until we were off the coast of England. Ropes were
hung everywhere to enable passengers to pull themselves along the corridors;
the ship listed from side to side as the massive waves pounded her. The crew
was terrific; looking after everyone on board with smiles that must have been
very hard to keep up. Sitting in the lounge on one of the upper decks one would
see sea on one side and air on the other - furniture was sliding around and
one could not go on deck! Hardly anyone was seasick - this must have been due
to the stewards persuading the passengers that they must eat - even in the midst
of the storm!

Bon voyage telegrams were all part of the voyage!!

Baggage Lable

Ashtray

Playing cards

History

On July 23, 1952 the Flandre left
Le Havre on her maiden voyage. During the crossing, the Flandre encountered
some electronic problems, resulting in her being 22 hours late for New York.
Temporary repairs had been carried out at sea, but as the Flandre came into
New York, she broke down again when her generators failed her. The ship was
unable to raise her anchors or even blast the whistle. In her celebration flags,
she was towed to pier 88 awaiting a massive overhaul.

Not until the next year’s mid-April did the Flandre resume her North Atlantic
service. By this time, the dockers at New York had nicknamed her ‘The Flounder’.

In 1968, the French Line faced severe
financial troubles as the passengers on the North Atlantic reverted to the fast
airliners; almost making the shipping lines obsolete.The Flandre was sold to
the Costa Armatori Line of Genoa, Italy, and renamed Carla C.

In 1986, she was renamed Carla Costa.In
1992 she was transferred to the Greek Epirotiki Line, renamed Pallas Athena
running mainly seven-day cruises from Athens to the Aegean isles and Turkey.

On March 23, 1994 the Pallas Athena
was disembarking passengers at her Athens-dock when a fire started in an empty
stateroom. All the passengers were off the ship when the fire suddenly developed
badly and spread quickly. The superstructure of the ship collapsed and so did
the funnel. After the fire had been put out, the Pallas Athena was towed to
the outer areas of the harbour and declared a total loss.

On Christmas Day the
same year, the ex-Flandre arrived at the Aliaga ship-breaking company in Turkey
for demolition. Not until 1995 was the last of her hull lifted out of the water.